Endless Nightmare
by The Last Kitsune
Summary: While visiting Canterlot during the Greater Equestria Festival, Twilight just happens to pick up an old magic tome, unaware of the dark history surrounding it...


Chapter 1: Words on the Page

Every year, the arrival of spring brings with it a flurry of activity all across Equestria as life returns to its daily routines; the long winter holiday now just a memory. Four weeks in the capital of Canterlot hosts the Greater Equestria Festival, the largest gathering of ponies all year. To promote and celebrate the diversity of the kingdom, citizens from all over come to display their native culture in the week-long event. From humble Ponyville, to metropolis Manehattan to the fortress Stalliongrad, no city is ever left forgotten. It was the first day of the festival and the first in history to be hosted not just by Princess Celestia, but also by the recently-returned Princess Luna. This fact alone has drawn the crowds out of the streets, all eager to see their glorious Princess in person. But it was a perfect opportunity for those less interested to wander Canterlot; for the moment safe from the mobs that could overwhelm a pony in minutes. Today it was the Kingdom Market that drew the patronage of Twilight Sparkle and her assistant Spike. The Market was often considered the 'heart' of the Festival, it was here that clothes, food, books and all other sorts of trinkets and items from across the kingdom could be bought. Even on the busiest of days a pony could find stumble upon something quite rare of valuable…

"Twilight, are you sure you want to miss the opening ceremony?" Spike asked before the young, purple and green dragon popped a piece of candy in his mouth. "For the eleventh time already, yes. I've already attended the ceremony twice before, it's not going to be that much different, even with Princess Luna there. Princess Celestia will give the same speech she does every year, everypony cheers; Luna will say something, everypony cheers, and that's it." Twilight replied as she took quick glances at the displays she and Spike walked past. "I know that, but Rarity and Applejack are part of it this year, we could have at least stayed to support them." Spike replied, already working to un-wrap a second piece of candy. "You could have stayed if you wanted." Twilight said. "No, you said 'Spike, I'm so lonely without your company, can you please come with me?'" He said, using his best Twilight imitation voice. "I did not say that!" She turned and glared at the dragon. "Well you meant it… and besides, why didn't you ask somepony else?" He asked. "Well Rainbow Dash said she was going to try and sneak a meet with the Wonderbolts before they perform later today, Fluttershy said she wanted to stay and watch the ceremony and Pinkie Pie… uh… well… I don't even know what happened to her… but the point is you are all that was left. Besides, I spent my bits on candy for you, so you should be content." Spike let out a sigh and hopped up onto Twilight's back. "Why do you even need more books? You have an entire library to read, is that not enough?" Twilight couldn't help but shake her head at her assistant's question. "Spike, the quest for knowledge has no end, we must continue to seek to learn, for nopony has ever learned all there is to know." Spike shook his head in disbelief and dug his claws into her saddlebags, looking for more candy.

For the moment the Market was calm, only the truly devoted were digging through the shops looking for any hidden treasures or other valuables before the crowds hit the streets. Twilight was different, she knew exactly what she was looking for, and only one shop she knew she'd be able to find something. Roaming Books, based out of Trottingham, always set up shop here during the festival and was THE shop to find rare and unusual books. Ever since she was a young filly, she made it a priority to visit the shop during the festival and never came away empty-hoofed. But the store had the annoying habit of always setting up shop in the farthest end of the Market, making it a bit of a struggle to locate when the crowds were out en masse. That was not a factor at the moment, so baring any unexpected distractions- "Well howdy Twilight! I wasn't expecting to find you here!" The purple unicorn stopped and, forcing a smile onto her face, turned to face Applejack's cousin from Appleloosa, Braeburn, and the young buffalo, Little Strongheart, both standing behind a stall filled with Appleloosan clothing and buffalo hoofcrafts. "Oh… hi… I wasn't expecting to see you two here either…" Twilight replied. "Well now, all of us down in Aaaaaaapleloosa decided it'd be a mighty shame if our town didn't get 'ta show off like the rest of 'em." Braeburn said with a wide smile. "Sheriff Silverstar suggested us buffalo should contribute as well; give the rest of Equestria a chance to learn something about us." Little Strongheart added. "Well, it's great that you both were able to make it, wouldn't quite feel complete without Appleloosa here." Twilight replied one hoof ready to move… but she knew she was at Braeburn's mercy. Once he began talking about Appleloosa, it was near impossible to get him to stop. "By the way, where is cousin Applejack? Don't tell me she slipped out on joining you up here?" He asked. "Oh, no, she would never do that. She and Big Macintosh were chosen to be among the representatives of Ponyville for the opening ceremony." Twilight replied. "Well good for her, the Sheriff tried to talk me into joining him and Chief Thunderhooves, but to be honest, I'd much rather be out here, talkin' to the common folk instead of prancing around in front of everypony." Braeburn remarked. "Yes… well… I'm kind of in a hurry, so if you wouldn't mind…" Twilight said, her face practically begging him to let her go. "Oh, I'm sorry, you go on ahead, maybe I'll catch ya'll later at the banquet." Braeburn replied. "Yeah… sure…" twilight said, giving him a smile with some faked enthusiasm.

It's not that the Grand Banquet was particularly bad, and it usually started out just fine, but a gathering so large was difficult to maintain order. This was beyond the attendance of the Gala, and there were just not enough guards to maintain any form of order. Amazingly, not even the presence of Princess Celestia ever managed to prevent complete chaos from erupting. It was a wonder why Celestia even put up with it, one would think after years of this she would have just cut it out altogether, but maybe deep down she enjoyed the ruckus. In any case if it wasn't for the fact that her friends wanted to go, Twilight wouldn't step a hoof near. But for the time being she remained focused on her current quest. She walked through the streets, only the sound of Spike chewing candy keeping her company. Right now a vast number of shops and stalls just hadn't opened yet, only a few were bold enough to open up for those not interested in the opening ceremony. Lucky for her, Roaming Books was among them. She found the shop in the same back corner that it always occupied; she couldn't remember a time when it was located anywhere else. Spike suddenly popped up to life, spotting a stall across the street. Set out on display were gems of all shapes and sizes, even a few not found anywhere near Ponyville. "I… uhhh… I'll let you go do your nerd stuff… I've got me some gems to taste!" He said with great enthusiasm before hopping off Twilight's back and running across the street. Twilight watched him for a moment before turning her attention back to her own pursuit and stepped into the store.

Roaming Books was extremely quiet and empty; the only pony here beside Twilight was the one sitting up at the front desk, reading a book set before him. The colt was a soft gray with a long, white mane; he almost looked as if he had been one of the unicorn guards of Celestia. Twilight had never seen him before; Roaming Books had always been run by a much, much older colt named Bookmark. The pony raised his head, revealing a monocle on his left eye; his green eyes immediately narrowing in on Twilight. "Oh, I'm sorry; I think I might have the wrong store…" Twilight said with a nervous smile. "You've come looking for Roaming Books? You are in the right place." He replied, his voice low, but still audible. "What happened to Bookmark?" Twilight asked. "He retired a few weeks ago, decided to move to Manehattan… I am Hocus Pocus, for the time being I'm managing his store until his son returns from a trip to Port-au-Prance. Now is there anything here that suits your interest?" Twilight looked at him… something inside her was saying she needed to leave, to run from this place. Hocus Pocus didn't appear threatening, the unicorn just sat there, watching. But this feeling… it wouldn't go away… she felt that she was in danger…

"What's taking so long?" Spike blared, sending Twilight jumping straight to the ceiling. "Don't startle me like that!" She replied, glaring at Spike as she regained her composure. "The salespony said they'll be showing off Equestria's largest blue diamond in ten minutes, I don't want to miss that!" Spike said, motioning for her to come. "Hold on, I haven't even browsed yet!" Twilight replied. "Well hurry up…" Spike pleaded, nervously hopping from one foot to the other. Twilight shook her head and started skimming over the shelves of books. It only took a minute before she realized all the store had were books she already owned. "I'm sorry, but I already have all of these at home." She said, returning to the front of the store. "Ah, a little scholar we have here?" He asked. "Why yes, I leave no book unread!" She proudly declared. "Yeah, and no floor uncluttered." Spike added, tapping his foot impatiently. "Well it is always a pleasure to meet a youth still interested in learning; too many abandon the pursuit of knowledge once they have a cutie mark." Hocus replied. "Well as the star pupil of Princess Celestia, I could never let myself become so apathetic!" Twilight replied with a smile. Hocus' ears twitched and a smile finally emerged on his face. "Well, Twilight Sparkle… you've certainly made my day. I would never have imagined somepony of your… reputation to walk into this dinky place." Hocus suddenly paused for a moment, a thought suddenly hitting his head. "And I think I might have something here you might be interested in." Hocus raised his hoof and waived her over. Twilight looked at Spike, who motioned for her to go, though still looking a bit grumpy. She turned and walked up to the front desk while Hocus levitated a small chest onto the table and opened it up. For a split second Twilight thought that Hocus' magic appeared to be pitch-black, but her attention was quickly drawn to the book that sat in the chest. Twilight levitated out of the chest and set it down on the table. The book wasn't particularly thick, but it had a heavy, grey cover that was carved with some intricate symbol and held firmly shut by a clasp.

"This is Lyrics of Arcanum, Volume 3. It is part of a series of six books that are among the rarest in the world, all offering way to increase your magic potential, power or control. Only one copy of each exists and I have never encountered another in all my life. Each book is magically enchanted to prevent any kind of damaged done to it. "Hocus explained before opening it up to a random page. "Observe." He laid a hoof down on one side of the book and grabbed a page in his mouth. Hocus jerked his head back and from side to side, leading twilight to shut her eyes, expecting the worse. Yet, no matter how hard he tugged or jerked, the page remained firmly attached; there wasn't even anything more than an indentation where Hocus had bitten down on the page. "That's incredible… what kind of spell could do that?" Twilight asked. "I can't honestly, say… it's not in this book nor have I ever come across it in any other magic tomes. It's possible it was designed specifically for use on this book." He replied. "Anyways not only is it impossible to tear or cut, you can't burn it or soak it… I've found no physical way to destroy it." Hocus closed the book the slid it over to Twilight. "So who wrote it?" Twilight asked. "I don't know, Volume 3 makes no mention of its author and without seeing any of the other volumes, I can't only go on speculation. I've heard that the Royal Equestrian Archives houses a volume, but I've never had the privilege of going to check it out myself." Hocus said and leaned in close to Twilight. "But it is commonly assumed that these books were written by the great Star Swirl the Bearded…" Hocus grinned slightly and leaned back. Twilight looked at the book, then back up at Hocus. "How much are you selling it for?" She asked. "Hmm, well considering it's rarity I COULD ask for a great amount… but after ten years of lugging this around I think I'd like to just be rid of it. You are more than worthy of this book, so you give me… ten bits and it is yours." Hocus replied. Twilight smiled, dug into her saddle bags, and dropped ten bits down onto the table. "Thank you so very much!" She said, dropping her purchase into her bag and turning towards the door to leave. "No, Twilight, thank you…" Hocus said, grinning as he watched the purple unicorn leave.


End file.
